Kumasi Landfill Could Be Full in 16 Months – Mayor
The mayor says €6 million is urgently needed to construct two additional landfill cells
- Kumasi’s only landfill could be full in 16 months without €6m funding
- Seven regional assemblies dump waste at the site without contributing to its upkeep
- Mayor appeals to central government to fund construction of two new landfill cells
The Mayor of Kumasi, Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, has issued a stark warning that the city’s only landfill site could be completely full within the next 16 months if an urgent €6 million is not secured to construct two additional landfill cells.
He cautioned that failure to mobilise the funds could leave the Ashanti Regional capital without a designated waste disposal site, deepening the already severe sanitation challenges confronting the metropolis.
According to the Mayor, the situation has been aggravated by the actions of seven other Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Ashanti Region, which rely on the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) landfill to dispose of their waste without contributing to its upkeep or expansion, placing enormous pressure on the facility.
Speaking at a media engagement in Kumasi on Thursday, January 15, Mr. Ofori Agyemang Boadi said the Assembly is urgently engaging central government to appreciate the gravity of the looming crisis and release the required funds to avert a breakdown in waste management.
“Within the next 14 to 16 months, if we are unable to construct two new cells, the landfill will be full, and we will have nowhere to dispose of our waste,” he said.
“We need about six million euros. We are knocking on doors to ensure the central government understands the enormity of the waste management challenge facing the greater Kumasi area.”
He expressed optimism that government support would arrive before the landfill reaches capacity, at least to enable the construction of one or two new cells to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control.
The Mayor also acknowledged that sanitation remains a major struggle for the Assembly, admitting that some initiatives introduced by the previous administration inadvertently worsened filth levels in the city.
As part of renewed measures to improve cleanliness, the KMA has announced that from February 1, sanitation workers will move from midnight cleaning to dawn operations.
The Mayor explained that the shift is intended to keep streets clean into the morning and curb the frequent reoccurrence of filth shortly after overnight cleaning.
